Audubon’s Riley Fayer is having quite an outdoor season and two weeks before sectionals is No. 1 in New Jersey Group 1 in the 1,600 and No. 2 in the 3,200.
Fayer ran 2:19.44, 5:13.29 and 10:58.45 as a freshman last spring, placing 8th in the Meet of Champions 3,200 with the No. 3 time among New Jersey 9th-graders. She was 3rd at indoor states in the 800 but has focused on the longer races this spring and improved dramatically in the 1,600, with a 5:04.02 at the South Jersey Elite at Delsea and a 5:04.57 at the Nick Baker Invitational at Haddonfield this past weekend.
That 5:04.02 is No. 4 overall in South Jersey, No. 3 among New Jersey sophomores and No. 1 in the state in Group 1. It’s also fastest by any South Jersey Group 1 runner since 1999, when Olympian Erin Donohue of Haddonfield ran 4:55.04 as a sophomore at the 1999 Meet of Champions. Haddonfield moved up to Group 2 in 2000, so when Donohue ran 4:41.16 as a junior she was no longer in Group 1.
Fayer has also run 11:06.06 this spring, which is 2nd-fastest in Group 1 this spring behind Walkill Valley junior Delana Einreinhofer, who ran 11:03.41 earlier this month at a home meet in Hardyston Township, Sussex County. Fayer is the No. 4 sophomore in the state and No. 1 in South Jersey. With her 10:58.45, she’s the fastest South Jersey Group 1 runner 3,200 again since Donohue, who ran 10:43.2 at 1999 sectionals.
Audubon’s last sectional winner in the 1,600 was Molly Furlong, who ran 5:10.20 to win the 2014 race. Audubon hasn’t had a sectional 3,200 winner.
Fayer’s competition at sectionals could likely come from Schalick junior Jordan Hadfield, who won indoor sectional titles at 1,600 and 3,200 meters and has run 5:09.28 and 11:16.06. She’s 3rd in the state Group 1 at 1,600 meters.
From the Backstretch by Reuben Frank 